Meghan Markle has revealed she suffered a ‘huge medical scare’ during one of her pregnancies.
In her new podcast, which has launched today, the Duchess of Sussex candidly shared her ‘scary’ health battle. The first episode of Confessions of a Female Founder saw Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of the dating app Bumble, join the Duchess to talk about her experience of being a female business founder.
The launch of the podcast comes just days after Meghan launched her As Ever brand where all of the products sold out within minutes. While chatting to Whitney, Meghan talked about her experiences of being a mum and reveals she suffered from postpartum preeclampsia.
She explains: “We both had very similar experiences — though we didn’t know each other at the time — with postpartum, and we both had preeclampsia. Postpartum preeclampsia. It’s so rare and so scary.
Meghan adds: “And you’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly. And in the quiet, you’re still trying to show up for people – mostly for your children — but those things are huge medical scares.” Whitney replied: “I mean life or death, truly.” Postpartum preeclampsia is a rare condition that causes high blood pressure after birth.
According to the NHS, symptoms for postpartum preeclampsia include severe headaches, vision problems, pain below the ribs, vomiting and sudden swelling of the feet, ankles, face and hands. Without immediate treatment, it can lead to serious complications including in rare cases, convulsions, liver and blood clotting disorders and strokes.
Whitney told Meghan: “I’ll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut.
“I was either just becoming or about to become a new mom, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, how is this woman doing this? How is this woman putting on heels and going and debuting a child in this, you know, beautiful outfit in front of the entire world?’ I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food in a robe.”
Following on from the Duchess of Sussex’s controversial Netflix show With Love, Meghan, the Mirror has launched its very own Royal WhatsApp community where you’ll get all the latest news on the UK’s most famous family.
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Also in the debut episode, Meghan talks about balancing her business with being a mum to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, revealing three-year-old Lili still takes naps and only goes to pre-school for half days.
Meghan added: “If she wakes up and wants to find me, she knows where to find me, even if my door is closed to the office,” added the mum-of-two.
“She’ll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings with a grid of all the executives… I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want to miss those moments. I don’t want to miss pickup if I don’t have to. I don’t want to miss drop-off.”
The Duchess proceeded to state how much she loved balancing motherhood and growing businesses, asserting that “both are just as important” and “really high value for the world.”
And Whitney said: “Technology is a beautiful tool for parents because you can dial in and be present and do a great job on the call while you sit in the carpool line outside school. Like, why do I need to be at a desk? I have the same mental opinion in a carpool line.”
Meghan marked the launch of her podcast on Instagram by posting a series of throwback photos of her selling cookies as a youngster. She said: “Being an entrepreneur can start young. (By the way, all these years later and I’m still selling cookies!). Tune in for the premiere episode of ‘Confessions of a Female Founder’ featuring my dear friend, @whitney, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts!”
Confessions of a Female Founder comes as her husband Prince Harry has reportedly made a secret trip to the UK landing just hours before his his father King Charles travelled to Italy for a historic state visit.
This comes after Prince Harry made a surprise appearance this morning at London’s Royal Courts of Justice in London after travelling to the UK. Upon arriving at the court, set to hear an appeal in his legal challenge over his security arrangements while visiting the UK, Harry waved, but did not respond to a reporter who asked, “Did you speak to your dad?”
It has emerged that Harry arrived in the UK mere hours before his father, King Charles III, travelled to Italy for a historic state visit. The Duke of Sussex reportedly landed in London on Sunday, April 6, meaning that his time in the UK has overlapped with his father, whom he last saw more than a year ago after the monarch first announced his cancer diagnosis.
As previously reported by the MailOnline, the estranged pair did not cross paths as the King spent his weekend at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire before flying to Rome from RAF Brize Norton, accompanied by Queen Camilla on the afternoon of Monday, April 7.
The Duke has been taking legal action against the Home Office over a decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) in February 2020 that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection while in the UK.
Harry took legal action the following year, and, in 2023, the High Court heard that an offer from the prince to pay for security himself had been refused, with his lawyers claiming he “does not feel safe” while visiting under these new security arrangements.
Barristers for the Home Office, which has legal responsibility for Ravec’s decisions, claimed the committee decided Harry would not be provided protective security “on the same basis as before” on account of him no longer being a working member of the royal family and living abroad most of the time, adding that such decisions were made on a “case-by-case” basis.
The Court of Appeal hearing, held before Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis, is scheduled to be heard over two days, with a decision expected in writing at a later date. Ravec has delegated responsibility from the Home Office over providing protective security arrangements for royal family members and others, with involvement from the Metropolitan Police, the Cabinet Office and the royal household.
As the royals get back to their normal duties after a difficult year, the Mirror has launched its very own Royal WhatsApp community where you’ll get all the latest news on the UK’s most famous family.
We’ll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in.
All you have to do to join is click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group.
We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
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